Do you have Ikigai in your life?

Do you have Ikigai in your life?

What the F@#k is Ikigai? And why should I have it in my life?

Well, Ikigai (pronounced Eek-Key-Guy) is a Japanese concept that translates into “A Reason for Being”. Or in more modern terminology “the secret to true fulfilment”. And when our souls feel fulfilled, then it’s more than likely that our hearts will be happy and therefore we will be happy. Ikigai is believed to have originated between 794-1185AD and it comprises of two overlapping concepts.

If we can get all eight of these concepts in harmony, then we have the secret (or not so secret) formula for true happiness and fulfilment. I am going to briefly break all of these down.

Along the way, I will be asking you some questions that will require some deep thought and some soul searching. Trust me, it is worth the time and effort to answer them. And hopefully, some actions that you can take to get you on your way to living a life with Ikigai in it

What You Love

This is literally what do you love doing. Some questions to ask yourself are:

What brings you joy when you do it?

What lights up your face when you talk about it?

What could you do for hours on end without getting tired or bored?

This is what you love. This is what makes your heart sing. An activity that you get truly absorbed in.

If you are still not sure if you have something in your life that you truly love then ask yourself the following questions.

If money was no object, I would . . .

If I knew I couldn’t fail, I would . . .

If I wasn’t afraid of what people would think, I would . . .

What the world needs

This can be the tricky one. What does the world need? How do you find that out? The concept is enough to cause mind paralysis. But here are a few tips that might help.

Where are there problems that need solving?

Are there gaps in the market place that needs filling?

Can you devise better, more efficient strategies for doing things?

Are there social issues that need addressing? How could you address them?

Identifying some of these core issues will help you figure out “what the world needs”

What you can get paid for

Yes, money is important. It helps us be able to live the life that we desire. We need to earn enough money to have a comfortable life. If we don’t have enough money, we are going to be constantly stressed out over how we are going to meet our basic survival needs. And that isn’t going to help us achieve Ikigai.

So, some questions that you need to ask yourself are:

What are your current skills that you are getting paid for?

From the answers to what you love, is anyone currently getting paid for that skill or service?

Do you need to do more formal training in the areas that you love to get paid for it?

How can you educate the world on why they need to pay you for doing what you love?

We would all love to get paid for doing what we absolutely love to do. However, sometimes, we get paid so well for the job that we are currently doing, that it can be hard to even consider changing roles, companies or careers. And that’s OK.

The majority of times, these transitions are gradual. You start working on what you love on the weekends. And then maybe work in your permanent job four days a week and dedicate one day a week to your Ikigai project.

What you are good at

We all have our unique talents. We are all good at something. Some come naturally to us. Some we have had to receive training and then continually practised at it. But we all have talents. We are all good at something.

So, some questions to ask yourself are:

What are you good at?

Practically

Creatively

Socially

What comes most naturally to you?

Where do you excel?

The answers to these three questions will help to identify your own unique skill set.

Your Passion

This is where “what you love” & “what you are good at” intersect. Our passions are what makes our hearts sing. It’s what brings us the most joy when we are actively engaged in it.

Exercise: Try to figure out how you can get paid for your passion

Your Mission

This is where “what you love” & “what the world needs” intersect. This is our Life Purpose. This is the mission we agreed to do before we were born into this life. You want to facilitate positive change in the world. But there are times that it does not pay well.

Exercise: Try to figure out how to get better at this so that you can either “get paid for it” or “get paid more for it”

Your Vocation

This is where “what the world needs” and “what you can be paid for” intersects. You are in a career that is valued and it pays well, but it’s not always something that you love.

Exercise: Try to constantly challenge yourself to get better and improve on your skills

Your Profession

This is where “what you can get paid for” and “what you are good at” intersects. This is your normal 9 – 5 work (or whatever hours you are doing). It might pay the bills, but is it bringing you fulfilment? Are you making a difference in the world (which will involve either your passion or mission)

Exercise: Try out new things and figure out what it is that you truly love doing

Roadblocks to finding your Ikigai

Here are some common reasons as to why we haven’t got Ikigai in our life yet

You believe the old saying of “you can’t make money out of something that you love”

You believe that no one would be willing to pay you for what you are passionate about

You believe that you are not good enough at your passion to make money from it

You are too exhausted from your daily routine to spend time on what brings you joy

You feel that the needs of your family are more important than your dreams

You have forgotten what makes you happy

You believe that due to your financial circumstances, you must stay where you currently are

You allow a fear of failure to prevent you from trying something new

Ways to start embracing Ikigai in your life

If you love the idea of Ikigai and you want to begin actively embracing in your life. Here are some starting points

Start identifying all of the beliefs as to why you can’t have Ikigai in your life. They have to go. And you can let them go by first identifying them. And then by seeing a practitioner, like a Kinesiologist, a Hypnotist, an Energy Healer etc to start dissolving them.

Identify what aspects of your current job do you really love doing. Can you ask your boss to be assigned more of that?

Identify what aspects of your current job do you like the least. Can you get those tasks reassigned to someone else? Remember, you are only responsible for your own Ikigai (not someone else’s) 😉

Identify what you are naturally good at. At work, at home, in life in general. Which of these bring you fulfilment and satisfaction? Can you bring some of those into your current job?

What do you have to do to improve your skills in what you love? Are there courses out there that can help you? Can you get more experience in your field of passion?

Find creative ways to get paid for your passions. Can you create webinars, instructional videos about what you love? Can you sell your creations on the Internet? Can writing about what you love bring you income? Can you become “the expert” in what you love? Can you build a following of fans who are passionate about what you can do?

Just this week, I came across a YouTube channel called Coolirpa. April creates “how to sewing” videos, she has 1.8 million subscribers to her channel, and most of her videos get between 100K to 2M views. A quick search of google tells me that on average, the YouTube ads pay out $5 per 1,000 views. So, she is making at least $500 per video. And she’s been doing this for over 5 years. She also has a fundraiser with her fans where they buy her T-shirts to further fund her channel. This is a way that April is achieving her Ikigai. She is making money out of what she loves, what she is good at, what the world needs, and what the world will pay her for.

What you can do immediately

Be kind to yourself. Life is a learning experience. Please don’t beat yourself for not achieving Ikigai yet. You still have many decades left to work on this. It’s not an overnight process.

Start small. What’s one thing that you can do right now that focuses on your passion? Do that.

Connect in with the world around you. Strive to meet new people, especially those who have different views and different interests to you.

Know that your passions will change over time. In my 30’s I was passionate about the Advertising industry, I absolutely loved working in it. Now that I am in my 40’s I am passionate about healing people spiritually. Who knows what I will be passionate about in my 50’s and 60’s. All you can do is focus on the here and now. What brings you joy right now. What lights you up right now.

Hi, my name is Liesl Frank and I am several things. I am psychic, I am a Kinesiologist, I am a channeller of energetic healings. Which is why I call myself a Psychic Kinesiologist. My passion is helping people to discover who they truly are. Not who the world tells them they should be. I help my clients to wake up and remember how truly amazing they are.

If you want to know more, then check out the rest of my website. If you want to know how Kinesiology can change your life then check out my landing page. If you are wondering how Kinesiology works and why it’s so awesome, visit thewhat is Kinesiology page.